The Olympics start this week in Beijing, China. I am SO glad that I did not go. The photos of the air over there shoudl give us pause. Like this one by Kevin Dooley. That's not fog - it's smoke. SMOKE.

The Chinese Olympic organizers have instituted a policy to cut down on the crud in the air, but it might be too little, too late. The Chinese government has an even-odd license plate policy to reduce the number of cars on the road. China has also shut down or temporarily closed some of the factories that belch the toxic mess into the air.

The air is so bad, that there has been talk of issuing MASKS to competitors so they won't ruin themselves by competing in the toxic soup. Christine Brennan of USA today said today that it was "pea soup" out there. It had been clear the past two days, but not today.

The IOC, because they want their party to go well, has said that the air quality should pose "no significant risk" to competitors. But some American track cyclists arrived there wearing face masks, something they later had to apologize for.

For my part, I will be writing about the Olympics from here - DC. I have no plans to go to Beijing any time soon, especially not to work 16-18 hours a day for three weeks. Nah, that's not what I call fun.

But I look forward to the competition. I hope Michael Phelps can win his 8 gold medals. It's a Herculean task, but he could do it. Whether the Chinese or the USA or Russia will top the medals table is not really of importance to me. I hope to see a good competition. I do want Americans to win, but I know we can't win everything.